In the forest funds of the State Nature Protection Institution "Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve" there are needle- and leaf-gnawing insects, pests of buds, shoots and trunks. For operational control of their numbers, pheromone surveillance is carried out, and the populations’ dynamics of forest pests are recorded. Pheromone surveillance is carried out using a network of traps using special synthetic pheromones.
The institution annually monitors stem pests, such as the apical and six-toothed bark beetles, which damage pine, as well as the typhoid bark beetle, which damages spruce. Traps for the first generation of these pests should be hung out as early as April. That’s why we began preparing and purchasing the required amount of pheromone substances and traps at the beginning of February.
As a result of pheromone surveillance, quantitative and qualitative data will be obtained that will make it possible to predict changes in the condition of plantings and the number of harmful insects, determine the threat to the viability of plantings, identify early signs of the emergence of mass reproduction foci of pests, and make timely decisions on the effective protection of forests.
